1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information retrieval from the Internet or other search spaces, and more particularly to a system of accumulating and organizing information collected from multiple remote locations in a central database, and implementing collected information in an open recommendation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, the nature and the structure of the Internet and other vast search spaces, combined with current technology and Internet exploration methodologies, present users with many problems for which current technology has offered no solutions. For instance, while an overwhelming amount of information is obtainable on the Internet, the available information content is limited only to materials accessible through Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Furthermore, present methods of organizing and presenting the information which is available to users are inadequate.
While some sites on the World Wide Web, for example, may provide users limited access to trends or suggestions based upon other users' behavior at that particular site, there is currently no expansive system which provides one user with global access to feedback and other information offered by other users. Moreover, since the current state of the art neither recognizes nor accommodates personal preferences or biases, exploration of the search space is less interactive, and consequently less efficient and less productive, than it otherwise could be.
In the context of the World Wide Web, for example, the information presently available for users is limited to the HTML documents which make up the searchable hyper-space. While most users consider interaction with other users and recommendations by other users to comprise the most efficient mechanisms for identifying useful and relevant information, current systems employed for information organization and retrieval are not adapted for providing a centralized server through which convenient and unrestricted user access to input from other users is enabled.
Additionally, while many users turn to the Internet for information concerning other media types, for example, television and radio, these and other media which are not HTML based are completely neglected by the Internet navigation and information retrieval systems currently in use; that is, access to these various other media is not possible through current HTML navigation methods and systems. This inaccessibility or elimination of other media sources which are not based upon HTML documents from current search and navigation systems represents a significant limitation of the state of the art.
Moreover, where limited interactive functionality is provided by current technology, the interaction is typically restricted to information exchange between one user and the site host, i.e. a closed system, rather than expanded to include information exchange between the various users of the site in an open recommendation system. As a result, current systems provide search results which do not take into account the preferences of users of such a closed system.
There has been a continuing and growing need, therefore, for an open, or distributed, recommendation system and method for identifying and accessing the most relevant information from the Internet or other vast search spaces. Such an open recommendation system and method should be customized so as to take into account the preferences and biases of the individual navigating the search space. Furthermore, a truly integrated system should support access through HTML to a variety of other media which are not traditionally HTML based, such as television and radio, for example. Additionally, since human input is generally the most preferred source of information, an open recommendation system and method should be adapted to incorporate human input as data into a central database, to facilitate retrieval of that information, and to encourage human interaction.